Although veterinarian behaviorists and animal behavior organizations have come out repeatedly with position statements advising pet owners to avoid dominance-based, aversive training methods, the people who produce the popular TV show starring That Guy in Hollywood (you know who I mean) continue to market to a gullible TV audience. Make no mistake, the program is about ENTERTAINMENT. Here are some excerpts from their website.
“A television show wouldn't get very far without its team of producers paving the way,”
“We're partners in a joint venture with MPH Entertainment. MPH/Emery/Sumner Productions.”
“I called Sheila and suggested that Cesar's ideas would make a good television show.”
“Most of the time we can tell pretty quickly whether or not the story is one we're looking for, and whether the case would make a good episode.”
“People need to understand that they're submitting to be on television, and we will need to use their audition video in the episode.”
“In the beginning we were always on set. But as things progressed, there's much more to do now with CMI and all the products, and we've become much more involved in that side of things. But we're still very involved in finding new stories. And it's become difficult, because a lot of our submissions are the same five bad behaviors over and over.”
I agree. Seeing the 5 most common behavior problems that trainers and behaviorists see over and over does not make for good drama. And, watching real behavior modification can be pretty boring.
So, in their quest for new, exciting episodes, the producers are currently seeking audition tapes from owners of wolf-dog hybrids. These hybrids are illegal in some states and for good reasons. They do not make good pets. They present unique behavior challenges and most owners cannot afford to provide what it takes to keep them (and children) safe in captivity.
Good television requires lots of action and the producers are likely to get more intense action with episodes featuring wolf-dog hybrids than with Fluffy the fear-aggressive toy breed. Controversy also makes for good TV viewing and ownership of these animals is as controversial as That Guy’s training methods.
Arguably, what makes America great is our ability to choose to watch whatever lame-brained reality TV show we want. I won’t ask anyone to not watch That Guy’s TV show.
As P.T. Barnum once said of the pre-television circus business, “There’s a sucker born every minute”. Don’t be one. Read Wolf Park’s position statement regarding wolf hybrids here: http://www.wolfpark.org/wolfdogs/position.html And their guidelines for responsible management of these animals: http://www.wolfpark.org/wolfdogs/guidelines.html